"Tim Fischer" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all,

We're just about to start a small tile job (45 sq ft bathroom). Last
night we tore up the ugly vinyl tile floor. It came up pretty easy with a
heat gun. The concrete slab underneath is in great condtion, but is
noticably "tacky" from the vinyl tile adhesive. We're not talking globs
of adhesive or anything, in fact it isn't really visible at all, except
for a little bit of gloss here an there and some other discoloration of
the concrete. But nothing like big black or yellow/gold blobs of adhesive
like I've seen elsewhere.

So my question -- will my thinset stick to this, or should I attempt some
sort of chemical strip? We used some household cleaner (409) and a wire
brush, then mopped with a strong floor-cleaner solution, and that helped a
little, but it's still quite tacky when you feel it or walk on it.

I'm guessing the original floor is circa mid-80's if that matters.

Thanks much for your help -- I'd apprecate any replies as we hope to do
some work on it yet tonight.

-Tim


mineral spirits or your chemical/cleaner of choice and an old towel cut into
smaller pieces to remove the tack

mop up with very hot water, plenty of times to remove all residue of any
chemical and/or cleaner

sand with coarse sandpaper wrapped around a piece of wood for a backing to
get down to concrete

if you don't want to get down to concrete, an old tile pro said you can
trowel on armstrong s-184 skim and patch coat right on top of the old sticky
surface (black - oil base glue; or yellow - water base glue ) then lay your
tile on it